The Simple Things We Overcomplicate: Finally Getting The Frames

When it comes to iconic rock bands Dublin has always been something of a one horse town. While Bono and the boys spent the last ten years or more dragging their giant lemon round the festival and stadium circuit, down town in the many tiny venues which form the backbone of Dublin’s music scene, something smaller but nonetheless lovely was beginning to take shape. The last five years in particular have seen a very definite musical community emerging within Dublin. There is a tangible sense of support and camaraderie evident amongst many of the musical stalwarts who’ve been gigging round the city for the better part of the last decade. They are often to be found popping up at each other’s hometown shows, covering each other’s songs and pulling their resources to support various cause celebre such as last year’s excellent Cake Sale collective recorded in support of Oxfam.

Elsewhere many Dublin staples have found favor outside of Ireland. O, Damien Rice’s behemoth of a debut, stormed the safe rock charts both sides of the Atlantic, while his ex-band mates, Bell X1 stayed home and charmed the local indie lovers. Meanwhile back in the Fair City, Irish darlings Turn, singer songwriters David Kitt and Gemma Hayes, and chop heavy, indie rock new kids Director and The Delerentos have amassed a significant fan base throughout the island and beyond. Dublin folk love their music. Dublin gig goers enjoy nothing better than a beer soaked session of bellowing along with the band and it is this kind of over-exuberant enthusiasm that makes visiting bands return again and again to rock out with the best crowds in Europe. Dublin-based favorites, The Frames have been plugging away in this musical hot house for over a decade. Beloved by the Irish contingent, all over the world, increasingly successful on their native shores and lynch pins of the Dublin music scene it’s about time everyone starting paying attention to The Frames.

The Frames’ front man Glen Hansard dropped out of school at the age of 13 and spent the next few years busking on the streets of Dublin. In 1990 armed with a short-lived recording contract with Island, Hansard formed a band, (supposedly named the outfit after the broken bicycle frames littering his mother’s front yard, though this like many other tall tales tripping from his mouth might simply be another of Hansard’s famous and terribly endearing set filling fairytales) and recorded Another Love Song which was reasonably good but not very successful. Shortly after, The Frames were unceremoniously dropped by their record label. Unperturbed Glen Hansard persisted and in 1995 recorded the blindingly brilliant Fitzcarraldo which thumps along with all the fist-shaking holy angst of a before they went ironic U2. Fitzcarraldo, aptly named after the movie about a man dragging a boat over a mountain, remains a firm fan favorite to this day. In my mind, live classic, “Revelate,” will always be the song a half cursed, half blessed, Job might have sang at the Almighty had he been offered access to an electric guitar.

Four years later the boys came back with Dance The Devil, an oftentimes angry, rage of a record with the kind of melodies you simply couldn’t shake out of your head. However it wasn’t until 2001’s heartbreakingly beautiful For The Birds that The Frames began to sound fitter, happier and generally more competent than your average local outfit. For The Birds is a hauntingly, delicate, ethereal sort of a record. Legendary producer Steve Albini slid behind the desk to produce several of the songs on FTB. Glen Hansard’s songwriting shines on tracks like the monumental “What Happens When The Heart Just Stops,” which will to my dying day, undoubtedly remain the best soundtrack to a broken heart I know of. More than anything For The Birds showcases The Frames’ signature disregard for any attempts to typecast their sound within a particular genre. The music soars and whispers, rages and sneaks somewhere between dreams and the worst kind of nightmares. Two subsequent live records built on the band’s reputation as the best live act in Ireland capturing their big sound, humorous anecdotes, audience participation et al. 2004’s Burn The Maps was a tad disappointing, offering up a handful of singles and a good deal of somewhat watery filler. Thankfully The Frames returned to form on last year’s The Cost, effectively blending enormous anthemic rock with a gentler melodic and more than competent kind of wonderfulness.

The Frames have been the darlings of the Irish music scene for as long as I can remember. Glen Hansard is well known as one of the nicest men in local rock. Everyone in Ireland, who doesn’t have a Bono anecdote, has a story about how nice Glen Hansard is. These stories follow a well-heeled pattern focusing on how Glen is funny and also nice, a multi-tasking combo most rock stars seem sadly incapable of mastering. For example you might recall the time he listened to your awful garage band demo and bothered to email you encouragement or the time he got that fifteen year old kid on stage to sing “Seven Day Mile” in front of 2,000 people or my own personal favorite, the time he touched your elbow accidentally and even though he smelt a bit funny you still thought he was lovely. Glen Hansard has a face like a furry little pixie creature, the kind of effortless Irishness American’s find absolutely beguiling and stage presence most front men would kill for. I’ve seen Hansard solo and collective both sides of the Atlantic at least a dozen times. I’ve seen him play to 2,000 people. I’ve seen him play to 200 people and the man has put the same kind of consistent enthusiasm into every single performance. Glen Hansard remains a champion of good musicianship and quality showmanship in an age when crass showiness often passes for entertainment.

Unsurprisingly The Frames have become well-known for their live shows. In a small venue their sound is enormous. A perfect coupling of loud, yearning guitars, frantic fiddling and wild yelping, combining to form something more elementally Irish and ancient than Riverdance and Colin Farrell and, dare I say it, Guinness, combined. The Irish Diaspora worldwide are known for their keen ability to track down The Frames when they tour abroad. They appear stage front in Celtic football shirts clutching pints of the black stuff and bellowing along with all the good bits in the set. One imagines that Hansard might from time to time be frustrated to find his audience chiefly composed of ex-pats but he bears it well, perhaps he knows that much of The Frames popularity abroad is down to the word of mouth fanaticism of the displaced Irish. Crazed Irish fans and charismatic front men aside The Frames are an easy band to love. They write great songs. They sound consistently good live. They tell funny stories between songs and they are famous for their ability to go tripping into someone else’s tune mid song. Listening to Glen Hansard live you have to be ready for a few bars of Van Morrison, a chorus of “Redemption Songs,” or “Ring of Fire,” and of course the obligatory sample from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Song.

Now it seems that The Frames are almost famous. Glen Hansard has recently revisited his busking days to play a would be Dublin musician in “Once,” an indie flick which did jolly well at Sundance this year and was directed by ex-Frames bassist John Carney. In the last two weeks no less than five American friends have told me about this great new band called The Frames. All five of them had seen “Once,” and fallen in love with Hansard as he warbled and charmed his way into a sort of love affair with Czech musician Marketa Irglova. “He’s so lovely and Irish,” they say, or words to that affect. It makes me think of the leprechaun on the Lucky Charms box every time someone says this. I have learnt to very patiently draw breath and agree that Glen Hansard is both very lovely and also Irish. I have handed out homemade best of The Frames mix cds to all those willing to listen, most of which have been met with general delight and/or mirth. I have found myself wondering why it took a feel good romance movie to make the folks of America finally realize just how good The Frames are. A small part of me is sad that success might mean I never again get to see The Frames crushed into the corner of a tiny venue, close enough to see the fiddle strings fraying at high speed or feel Glen’s spit when he goes off on a musical rant. The larger part of me is glad and also proud that people might finally get to hear the songs which have for almost a decade reminded me what it means to belong to a place and a sound and a people. For the curious here are my ten essential downloads of Frames tunes.

1. What Happens When The Heart Just Stops (from For The Birds)
2. Fitzcarraldo (Fitzcarraldo)
3. Revelate (Set List)
4. Finally (Burn the Maps)
5. Pavement Tune (Dance the Devil)
6. Falling Slowly (The Cost)
7. Lay Me Down (For the Birds)
8. Red Chord (Fitzcarraldo)
9. People Get Ready (The Cost)
10. Seven Day Mile (Dance The Devil)

Secret Track: Star Star (Medley) (Set List)